After a week's break, F1 restarts its engines in Austria. Also returns sprint weekend which will see the sprint qualifications starting tomorrow (click here for the Austrian GP times). Like every Thursday, all the drivers participated in media interviews.
The Catalonia circuit smiled at Mercedes. After a difficult start to the season, the team Anglo-German has solved the aerodynamic problems of the W15 and now seems intent on worrying Ferrari and McLaren. The fact that we were competitive, even more than Ferrari, on a technical circuit like that of Montmeló, can only make the driver smile. team principal Toto Wolff continuing to court three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
After the wonderful test in Canada and the excellent test in Catalan soil, Mercedes intends to reconfirm itself also on the Styrian circuit.
Let's see the sensations of the Mercedes drivers on the eve of the Austrian GP.
Austrian GP 2024, George Russell: “Hopefully we can start winning races from now on”
George Russell, who finished behind Lewis last round, but was the absolute protagonist in Canada, intends to continue Mercedes' positive streak and feels confident about the team's future, as they are now aware of what the W15 needs to return to triumph as in the past.
Returning to the Spanish race, he admits how difficult it is to beat the Red Bull-Verstappen pairing, comparing the latter to the Mercedes-Hamilton pairing: “In Barcelona we finished I don't know how many seconds behind the winner, maybe 20 seconds, which is a lot in the big picture. But we know we had the fastest car in Canada, and you can't have the most competitive car on the grid every weekend.”
![Mercedes GP Austria 2024](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0921.png)
“In Spain it was Max who had the best car, he could even have gone 6 tenths a lap faster in the high-speed corners. This makes it easier to manage the tires better. Max is one of the best ever“, declares the Briton from Mercedes.
“The package between him and the car is like Lewis's in the winning era with Mercedes. We are fourth in the constructors' championship and have more time to spend in the wind tunnel than our rivals, but now we know what we need to make these bigger steps."
“We're all excited for the rest of the season and Let's hope we start winning races from now on. The pace we have shown recently has allowed us to be ahead in the last two races, now that we have the updates. We weren't at this point at the start of the season." concludes the former Williams.
Austrian GP 2024, Lewis Hamilton: “We solved the qualifying problems”
After the first podium of the season, the seven-time world champion finds serenity after a difficult start to the season. Furthermore, it seems that Lewis Hamilton has solved the problems that were affecting Mercedes in qualifying. According to him, a lot of analytical work has been done to make the W15 competitive on Saturdays too.
“There was a lot of analytical work. I asked the team for a lot of information on how we can improve, where we are lacking", says Lewis.
“It's simply about tire management. We've seen that once we get to qualifying, things change a bit. The car is obviously lighter, the DRS is used much more. Time will tell. I think we've worked something out. We have to work on this."
![Mercedes GP Austria 2024](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0922.png)
Hamilton then spoke about how important it is to understand how the tires work, which he said is difficult to interpret. In this regard, he described this year's Mercedes as being on a "knife's edge": “The car, from an aerodynamic point of view, is on a razor's edge. It's not so easy to find a balance with the mechanical side. The aerodynamic balance between high and low speeds is difficult to achieve."
“The temperature of the tires and how you deal with the out lap is the key,” Lewis continues. “Ferrari in Montreal didn't make it past Q2 for example. This can only be traced back to tire temperature, but they have a good car and have already won races."
“This shows that it is not easy to make the tires work, they are definitely more sensitive than in any other season that I remember.”
Crediti foto: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team